Gżira United have signed Kyle Spence on a permanent deal.
The 27-year-old joins the Malta Premier League side after spending the first half of the season playing in the Spanish fouth-tier with Vélez CF.
Spence made six appearances during his time in Spain but follows several key players out of the door at Vélez after financial difficulties left several players at the club without pay for months.
He now heads to Gżira who have competed in European football in the past five seasons. The club, based in a harbour town in the centre of Malta, have reached the third qualifying round of the Europa Conference League in back-to-back seasons beating teams from Luxembourg, Northern Ireland, Andorra and Serbia in the process.
The Maroons currently sit 11th in the league and will be hoping Spence can provide the spark to help them avoid a relegation battle this season. Four teams will be relegated from the 14 team league this season after the Malta FA announced the league would be reducing to 12 teams for next season.
The club have also reached the last 16 of the Maltese FA Trophy this season, with a tie against league rivals Hibernians to take place next month. The winners of the Trophy receive entry to the Europa Conference League.
Spence, who spent his youth career with local side Crystal Palace, made his professional debut for Coventry City as a 17-year-old and went on to make three senior appearances for the club.
After leaving the Sky Blues in 2017, he has been playing abroad ever since. His first season saw him score 10 goals for Norwegian fourth-tier club Valdres and his impressive performances in his debut season abroad saw him progress to third-tier side Alta and then onto the second division for Øygarden.
Then followed a spell in Lithuania for top-flight side Hegelmann Litauen, where he scored 5 goals in 18 matches as the club narrowly missed out on European qualification.
A transfer to German fourth-tier side FSV Frankfurt followed before the move to Spain.
Malta marks the sixth country that the winger has played in as he continues to forge a path as an English player abroad. After two seasons in and out of the starting lineup, he will be hoping to have a similar impact as he did in Lithuania with his new club in Malta.
Good luck Kyle!
English Players Abroad 